Invar-like behavior of antiperovskite Mn_{3+ x}Ni_{1- x}N compounds

The antiperovskite Mn_3+xNi_1-xN compounds have been synthesized and characterized by a variety of experimental techniques. After Mn doping at the Ni site, both ferromagnetic characteristics and an Invar-like effect were observed in the antiferromagnetic host material. The observed Invar-like behavior was assumed to be related to the characteristic magnetic structure induced by the doping. Neutron diffraction results prove that the Mn doping stabilizes the special γ^5g antiferromagnetic phase with strong spin-lattice coupling that can be tuned to achieve Invar-like behavior. The magnetovolume effect (MVE) and significant correlation between spin and lattice were confirmed for the γ^5g magnetic phase by the first-principles calculations. Moreover, Mn 3d electrons were revealed to be the key factor for the MVE from the calculations. Our study presents a new mechanism for precisely controlling the zero thermal expansion of a single compound by achieving the special γ^5g magnetic phase of Mn atoms.